El Paso

The Times missed one major twist in "El Paso Case Full of Twists and Turns," Oct. 22. At the height of the California natural-gas price crunch, El Paso Corp. blamed the entire problem on California by claiming a lack of capacity within the state to handle any more gas. After claiming that reduced shipments were caused by safety considerations and not by any capacity problems in California, El Paso and its executives have now admitted that they lied to California in 2000. El Paso clearly had a major role in triggering the gas and electricity price crisis in California, and the only remaining question is how much of the company will be given to California to pay for its misdeeds.

Craig Yacks and Bisser Georgiev both scored twice as the El Paso Patriots defeated the Waves, 6-2, Friday at Santa Ana Stadium. El Paso midfielder Martin Arrieta scored 10 minutes into the game. Yacks scored in the 33rd minute, and assisted on Georgiev's first goal less than a minute later. Yacks made the score 4-1 in the 54th. Kirk Wilson and Georgiev capped El Paso's scoring late in the second half.

Gov. Gray Davis said Tuesday that he preferred to reach a settlement with El Paso Corp. before regulators rule on whether the nation's largest natural gas pipeline operator held back billions of dollars worth of supplies during the state's energy crisis. Industry analysts have said a settlement would be in the best interests of El Paso, which has been hit hard by a downturn in energy trading, and Davis, whose political popularity has eroded in recent months.

El Paso Corp., the largest U.S. owner of natural-gas pipelines, slashed its profit forecast for the second time since May and said the business has enough cash to avoid a dividend cut during an energy-trading slump. The Houston company said its second-quarter loss narrowed to $45 million, or 8 cents a share, from $93 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell 20%, to $2.99 billion from $3.76 billion. El Paso shares rose 14 cents to $14.89 on the NYSE.

El Paso Corp. won Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to boost the capacity of its line to California by 7.1% to meet rising fuel demand in the state and the Southwest. The $173-million project is scheduled to be completed in two years. The project would increase shipping capacity by 320,000 million cubic feet per day, enough for about 1.3 million average U.S. homes. El Paso shares rose 64 cents to $9.64 on the New York Stock Exchange.

El Paso Corp., the largest owner of U.S. natural-gas pipelines, had its fourth straight quarterly loss after writing down the value of assets that have been sold, including a power plant and a New Jersey oil refinery. The net loss in the first quarter was $394 million, or 66 cents a share, compared with net income of $383 million, or 72 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Revenue rose 6.7% to $4.02 billion. El Paso's stock fell 16 cents to $7.50 on the NYSE. From Bloomberg News

El Paso Corp., which owns the largest U.S. natural gas pipeline, said an internal investigation has shown it may have provided inaccurate price information to a trade publication on at least one occasion. The company hired the law firm of Haynes & Boone to analyze the accuracy of pricing provided by its El Paso Merchant Energy unit, according to a statement. Preliminary results are expected in about two weeks. A company spokesman didn't return phone calls.

The natural gas trading unit of Houston-based El Paso Corp. said it agreed to pay $20 million to settle charges by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission that its traders provided fake trading data to natural gas industry publications that use the information to determine gas index prices. "The company is not aware of any evidence that any of the inaccurate reporting affected any published index price," El Paso said. Last week, El Paso agreed to pay $1.

El Paso Corp. sought Wednesday to minimize the scope of a potential fine after a judge concluded that the company's trading unit unfairly won capacity on its pipeline to Southern California last year. Chief Executive William Wise said the Houston-based company, owner of the longest U.S. natural gas pipeline system, will ask federal regulators to exonerate it or impose no fine.

Energy producer El Paso Corp., which has been accused of driving up the price of natural gas in California, said Monday that second-quarter earnings beat analysts' estimates because of profit from power generation and gas distribution. Profit from operations was 77 cents to 79 cents a share, Houston-based El Paso said in a statement. It was expected to earn 76 cents, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. A year earlier, El Paso earned 58 cents.